I traveled up to the north end of Muskoka passing through Huntsville and into Algonquin territory. The autumn colours were definitely more vibrant as I continued to travel north. I have always wanted to climb the Dorset Fire Tower and it seemed like a good day to do it with hardly anyone around on a Friday. The man at the gate said he was expecting numerous bus loads of people arriving to take in the fall colours the very next day.

As I climbed my way to the top the winds were really howling and I noticed the structure would sway a little which accounts for a bit of fuzziness in the photo. The observation deck is caged in and about 100 feet up however the elevation over Lake of Bays is close to 500 feet up and offers spectacular panoramic views.

After almost 30 years of trying, last Autumn, I finally overcame my phobia and made it to the top of the Dorset fire tower. Twice in one year. It took a lot of fortitude to make the climb past the first landing as my fear of heights turn my legs to stone and I shake in abject terror and end up with nightmares of falling for weeks. I really like this shot. We saw a buck and two does in the clearing in the centre of the image, just below Lake of Bays. http://www.birdwalking.ca/pblog/index.php?showimage=1008

Great photo. I’ve been up the tower a number of times with family or friends and the view is consistently amazing. I love how your photo makes the water seem as if covered in fog or cloud. I’ll bike up the tower road a couple times each day this weekend to start off a road ride around the lake, and if lucky fight the crowds for a parking spot and hike up the tower as well. Cheers to a photo of the most beautiful spot in all of Ontario……….the Lake of Bays.

As we still had the boat in water, we drove by boat into Dorset where there was a slip or 2 left, parked the boat and hiked up the Dorset tower trail to the top of the lookout. WOW! And then climbed the tower for the most amazing view in every direction…..simply amazing. I heard the wait to drive up and park was something like an hour, so walking up from Dorset ( as hundreds of others were doing ) was the thing to do.